Are you looking to make managing your business's health & safety compliance an easier, more efficient process? Maybe you're a risk assessor who is looking to the benefits of an electronic system? We all know technology can revolutionise so why shouldn't the legal compliance industry benefit from these changes too.
I'm a web developer for a health and safety consultancy company who works within a team who develop the company's own on-line risk management system. We use the system, our clients use the system and other health and safety companies use the system for their clients. I have personally been involved with the system for over five years, during this time system processes have been streamlined and features implemented that are most beneficial to the user and ensure compliancy with the latest laws and regulations.
If you're thinking about taking your health and safety management on-line or to the "cloud" as it's now known, here are 6 key requirements of the system you should be looking out for.
1. Recording
It's always a good idea to have an electronic copy of your health and safety policy and forms available in a central location where it can be accessed at any time. When they are stored online users can log on and find the latest available versions.
You should be able to record many types of different reports and records e.g. training, audits, risk assessments, weekly safety checks, accidents, major incidents, enforcement officer visits, asbestos and legionella surveys. When it comes to recording your accidents, major incidents and enforcement visitor on-line, a great feature to have is the option is escalate to the necessary contacts via e-mail and or text message.
Which takes me to the next feature to look out for.
2. Monitoring
This is where making use of technology really benefit you. If your health and safety is recorded online then the data can be queried so you can where you stand with your compliance. Examples include where you are falling short in your safety checks, audits or risk assessments, where problems have been identified and have not been resolved or where training has elapsed.
3. Reporting
Again, making use of technology you can run reports on your records, for example you can report on your accident statistics, where your compliance problematic areas are or where resolving problems are now overdue. You should be able to run reports as and when required and automated reports should be part of your specification when searching for a system.
4. Security
You will need to ensure that your choice of on-line risk management system is secure. Usernames and passwords should be required to access your data and the connection should be encrypted.
5. User Friendliness
Your choice of on-line risk management system should be easy to navigate and use.
6.Support
It’s always a good idea to have a system that offers help when you need it, whether it’s a technical question or health and safety issue.
I hope you have found this article helpful and sets you on your way to finding the right on-line health and safety risk management system.